Holiday plant alternatives to consider

And will feeding deer keep them from munching your garden?

Cyclamen make lovely holiday plants. (Jeffrey Hamilton)

Hi, guys!

You might have recently brought home a poinsettia (or have kept one alive since last year). Or perhaps you’re nurturing a Christmas cactus or Amaryllis. All lovely plants, to be sure.

But if you’re looking for something less traditional to add a festive flair to your holiday table or elsewhere in the home, you might consider using other winter-flowering houseplants.

Cyclamen is the first to come to mind. Its butterfly-shaped flowers, available in red, white, pink and lavender, also has beautiful patterned foliage to carry the plant when it’s not in bloom.

Anthurium, begonias and kalanchoe are also terrific options if you’re looking to mix things up a bit.

Candy Cane, left, and Frozen poinsettias will be available in 2025.

There are some new poinsettia varieties on the horizon, too. Keep an eye out for Candy Cane, which has white-speckled, red bracts (let’s call them flowers) and Frozen, a pure white flower with dark green leaves. Both have been bred by Dummen Orange and will be available in 2025.

🎉 Congratulations to Audrey Lassiter of Portsmouth, Virginia, who was randomly selected to receive a Burpee-Barebones gardening swag bag in our first Founders Holiday Giveaway!

If you’re looking for a holiday gift for a gardening friend, consider giving a premium subscription to The Weekly Dirt! They’ll get weekly issues, access to a treasure trove of gardening how-tos in the archives and commenting.

📬 Ask Jessica

(Agathe Marty)

DEAR JESSICA: Can I — or should I — feed the deer in my backyard to keep them from nibbling my plants? Most deterrents seem to require a lot of effort. —Virginia C. Wilch